Electric vehicles are zero-emission at point of use. However, emissions are produced during the generation of electricity – the amount depending on the method of generation. Therefore, the emissions need to be considered on a life cycle basis so as to include power station emissions.
For climate change gases (such as CO2), electric cars charged using average UK ‘mains’ electricity show a significant reduction in emissions – the figures suggest a reduction of around 40% compared to an average small petrol car (tailpipe 120 g/km CO2). This is improving all the time too, as the UK’s electricity mix is increasingly made up of a greater ratio of renewable energy.